Mutually Inclusive PR

Flack May Have Ghostwritten a Celebrity Interview - News at 11

An L.A. publicist denies making up quotes by Ryan Phillippe and supplying them to a magazine as an exclusive about the breakup of his marriage to Reese Witherspoon.

How to file that item?  Dog Bites Man?  PR Secrets?  Celebrity Myth Revealed?

Celebrity magazines are an art form. They triangulate the star power or level of ridicule appropriate for their subjects, wrangle quotes, photo sessions and gossip from publicists, "friends", enemies and passers-by, and seek out details and images that will either feed or undercut the myths constructed for the celebrities who are in or out of favour.

The exclusive comments and revealing admissions about the stars are often pasted together by, or negotiated with, the publicists.

When a magazine posts an item revealing that Charlie Sheen has copies of The Iliad (in the original Greek) and War and Peace on his bedside table, what is more shocking -- that Charlie Sheen has a bedside table, or that it's possible he reads less esoteric literature?

If a celebrity has clout (and a lot of them do), the magazine is in the position of either currying favour or losing access.  A lot of favour is curried, and when access is cut off or reduced, the editor rarely lets it be known.  The gushing nature of most celebrity coverage overlooks or underplays the fact that much of the coverage is heavily controlled and managed by publicists, or is originated by publicists to affect how their celeb is perceived.

So, getting back to Ryan Phillippe, we find that the New York Post assigned three reporters to chase down a rumour that a publicist subcontracted to help him position himself during his marriage breakup was quickly unsubcontracted because quotes attributed to the star may have been fabricated.  Or maybe because an exclusive already arranged for one publication got handed to another publication.  Or maybe the firm that's been handling Phillippe's media relations for years decided they'd rather live with the conflict of interest while juggling with the interests of the star couple that is now uncoupled.

Liz, a public relations student, writes in her Crazed PR blog that  this is an example of bad PR, because the publicist fabricated quotes.

I highly doubt this is the first instance of quotes being attributed to a celebrity that weren't spoken out loud by the celebrity and faithfully transcribed by the publicist. And, other than a single unnamed source, my quick search didn't turn up any corroboration of the claim that this is something other than a freelance publicist losing a gig.

I suspect all celebrity publicists would prefer that their clients be available at all times to agree on a PR plan, provide quotes, approve edits, confirm facts and sign off on agreements negotiated with various media outlets.

In instances when that doesn't happen, I'll reserve judgement on whose fault it is.

Edelman's Conflicted Role Led to Silence

When the large public relations firm Edelman went into a protective silence instead of engaging its critics over a pro-Wal-Mart blog, it reminded me of HAL, the computer in 2001, A Space Odyssey.

HAL was just doing his job.  But we learn in the next movie (or book, for Arthur C. Clarke fans) that HAL's psychotic behaviour was a natural reaction to being given two contradictory orders by its programmers.

Edelman has repeatedly stated it wants to uphold transparency and honesty in its word-of-mouth marketing and social media activities - both for itself and on behalf of clients.

Compare that to the military, man-the-barricades mentality that is ingrained in the corporate culture at Wal-Mart. Add a prevailing attitude in U.S. politics/marketing/culture that if you just repeat a lie long enough, the public will accept the lie as truth.

It's a very typical situation where the client doesn't want to operate in the real world because the rules of behaviour are inconvenient.

The public relations agency's job is to educate the client and show them how they can gain from behaving in a less anti-social manner. There are many, many compromises to be made on both sides before that kind of transformation can take place (if that's even possible).

The blog was one of those compromises, and president Richard Edelman has acknowledged "the cross-country tour that Edelman designed" was done in a way that violated the agency's stated principles.

His apology was a good step toward clearing the air.  I attribute the fact that it took him several days to respond to the criticism of bloggers to the HAL syndrome.  It's hard to respond to complaints about your actions when you're just doing what the client wants.

See Shel Holtz's Edelman and the One-sided Conversation, and a few dozen other posts - IR Daily, twopointouch, Open (finds, minds …, hyku | blog, JD on EP, Marketing Begins At Home, Joe Duck, PR Squared, Scobleizer, The Post Money Value, Blog Business Summit, Message, Publishing 2.0 and A View from the Isle (links via Techmeme).

Update:  Edelman's internal investigation has turned up two more fake blogs.  Surprise, surprise - both related to Wal-Mart.  That just reinforces my impression that the client is driving this particular wagon.

Tags: communications, consulting, marketing, edelman, agencies, walmart, blogs

Outrageous Satire, or U.S. Foreign Policy? Hard to Tell, Some Days

When you scan a headline like this in The Onion, you know it's either a hilarious exagerration of the truth, or American foreign policy (read: credibility) has sunk to a new low.

If it's humour, everyone's getting in on the joke:

• Talking Torture and Using Germany as an Illustration - Atlantic Review
• Senate Passes Torture Bill and Bush Pardon - Drudge Report: Beavis Christ Blog
• Have You No Sense of Decency, Sir, at Long Last? - Tragos, Brian Cooney
• Senate Passes Detainee Bill Sought by Bush - New York Times

When the post 9/11 suspension of some human rights began, I hoped the various governments, armies and security agencies would somehow distinguish themselves by their ethics and actions from those who sew terror with suicide bombs in public places. The distinction continues to blur until into insignificance.

Tags: terrorists, usa, senate, anti-terrorism, torture

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Publicists and Bloggers Talk about their Roles

The fashion/beauty industry bloggers of New York met with publicists yesterday to talk about expectations, roles and schwag.

Pierce Mattie Public Relations hosted the event, probably partly in response to a recent criticism of its blogger relations.

Video of a discussion between Pierce Mattie and blogging network Coutorture Media's Julie Fredrickson is on the Pierce Mattie site. More audio and transcripts are coming.

Said Fredrickson:

"... I think that there’s so much value to what bloggers do. They’re very authentic, very passionate about what products they choose to talk about. And their audiences know that. And having a chance to really interact with publicists so that they can get information about products and then transfer that knowledge and information on to the audiences who are very much the consumers and love products, just as the bloggers, is an incredibly wonderful opportunity. I can’t imagine a more exciting time really for publicists, because the industry is changing, and for bloggers, because now they have a chance to really get all of the information they deserve."

Fashion or beauty bloggers aren't always sure whether to trust publicists, even though they may want help getting product information, photos and other background materials, she said.

Fredrickson says a lot of beauty bloggers get free samples.  Some mention the source, others don't.  Since most mainstream media editors don't disclose the extent to which they receive freebies, Fredrickson believes it's up to the blogger to disclose or not disclose.

Interestingly, she often won't mention a product if she doesn't have something positive to say about it. She says that, if she has a problem with a product, she reports the problem to the company, but not to her readers.  One reason she cites is the different effect a beauty product can have on an individual (looks great on one person, not great on another person).

Fredrickson's blog Almost Girl.

Tags: fashion, beauty, pierce mattie, bloggers, blogs, blog relations, publicists

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Career Suicide in Three Easy Steps

Update:  At the request of the Flickr member whose illegitimate use of others' photos prompted this story, I've deleted his name from this post.  (He asked nicely.)

A short blog post by Vancouver web developer and photographer Kris Krug caught my eye back in February. He accused a fellow Flickr user [name deleted] of claiming credit for photos Krug had taken.

End of story, I thought, but a cease and desist letter last week from a lawyer demanding that Krug delete the blog post set off a blogstorm that will last a lifetime. See Krug's post, [Name deleted] Stole My Photos and Now is Sueing ME!?!

If [Name deleted] wants to pursue a career in the creative arts, journalism, or any other field that requires a reputation, he'll need to either change names, or turn this into a selling point for his future.

The Google Juice involved in raising awareness of his apparent plagiarism is so powerful, this story will probably always be at the top, or near the top, of an Internet search for his name.  He will always be "the photo plagiarist who tried to sue his victims." See Thomas Hawk, Diane Ensey, Chris Garrett  and Jeff Nolan on the subject.

Assuming he decides to try to resurrect his name (not a lot of evidence yet, except a couple of apologies), [Name deleted] will need to be very clear, vocal and consistent with his apology, and throw himself on the mercy of the blogosphere that has allowed him to so publicly tarnish his name.

The assault on this guy's reputation was massive. Bloggers were very deliberate about including his name in the headline of their posts, to ensure they would show up in a search for the name. People on Flickr and on Digg related their efforts (including addresses and phone numbers) to contact him, his freelance clients, his web hosting company and others, to spread the news about his transgression..

Pretty harsh, maybe, but right in line with the summary career assassination that would have taken  place if he was a journalist.

Tags: reputation, photos, legal, apology, kriskrug, lawsuit, creative commons

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It's Hard to Have a Dialogue When You're Not Listening

News Flash!  Pierce Mattie's blog is now accepting comments.

Faithful Mutually Inclusive PR readers may remember me taking Mr. Mattie to task in April 2005 for having a blog that appeared to accept comments, but that rejected every single comment for having "objectionable content."

Six weeks later, I got a response from Mr. M., criticizing me for being stupid and a lousy blogger. Then he got mean, and wanted to know if I was a fattie.  And no, he didn't respond to my complaint that his blog has a comment function that only works in theory.

Now that the company is under attack for employees posting comments under pseudonyms on others' blogs, Pierce Mattie PR has had a blinding revelation, and has decided to accept comments on its blog.

It gets better. Agency president Steve Hultgren complains bitterly that blogger Jackie Danicki closed off comments on her blog post that accused Pierce Mattie PR of spamming blogs. Says Steve:

"In fact, we thought that one of the most fundamental rules of blog etiquette existed primarily because the other rules were so ambiguous. I’m referring to the general rule that bloggers should use their blogs to facilitate dialog, particularly about the blog medium itself. That is why we find it particularly disappointing that Jackie made her post and e-mailed countless bloggers before contacting us at Pierce Mattie PR to get the full story, and that she has closed comments to the post, leaving us unable to defend ourselves or explain the situation."

If the agency was so concerned about facilitating dialogue, they could have opened comments on their blog 16 months ago, when I pointed out their non-functional comment tool. Or, to be more honest to their readers, they could have just removed the comment and trackback functions from the blog, since they were obviously disabled.

I have no issue with whether or not they accept comments or trackbacks.  My main complaint then and now is that they are pretending to be part of a conversation, but they weren't allowing anyone else to talk.

Don't get me wrong.  I think the Pierce Mattie blog is entertaining and well managed.  But they shouldn't act as if they're big supporters of dialogue with other bloggers, when for years they have shut a very common door to blogging dialogue.

Link via Micropersuasion.

Tags: pierce+mattie, astroturfing, spam, blogging, dialogue

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Sponsorship Scandal a Cautionary Tale for Agencies, Bureaucrats

"I was just following orders," isn't a good enough excuse for bypassing the rules and doling out money to ad firms friendly to the government, a jury ruled last week.

Chuck Guite was found guilty last week of defrauding the Canadian government in the federal government sponsorship scandal. During the trial, Guite tried to portray himself as someone whose actions were directed by his political masters.

But it doesn't really matter who was involved in decisions. Guite's name was on the contracts that gave out hundreds of thousands of dollars for laughably little (if any) work in return.

The moral of this long, drawn-out story?

Bureaucrats may be protected from being singled out when a government policy goes awry, but when you break the law, you're on your own.

The same goes for agencies.  Many of the ad/PR agency folks who got dragged into the chanelling of money from the federally-paid sponsorship campaigns back to Liberal Party contacts in Quebec claimed they felt pressured to take part in underhanded transactions. Well, they get to go to jail, too, even if they were just following orders.

Previous posts: Agency billings probed, Media ban, Bloggers flex muscles

Tags: quebec, politics, fraud, advertising, agency, sponsorship, scandal, government

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Damn! Spammer/Spyware Jerk Only Has to Pay $4 Million

I've never met him, but I hate Sanford Wallace.

In the mid '90s, I had just talked my spouse into an e-mail account and was helping her figure out how it could help her writing career.

That's when Sanford Wallace entered our lives, and started peppering her with the same e-mail every day. (Photo from O'Reilly Media site.)

I laugh when I compare that one intrusion with the dozens of spam messages one of my public-facing e-mail accounts gets hit with daily. Today I shrug them off without pausing. But that first spam attack by Wallace felt like the time our house got broken into. It felt personal, and abusive.

Our ISP was no help. I don't remember what finally worked in getting rid of that daily message from the spam king.

Now Wallace has been hit with a $4 million penalty for his spyware intrusions. All I can say is, the penalty is a decade late, and the penalty isn't nearly high enough.

Tags: spam, security, spyware, sanfordwallace, bastards

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An Incredible Business Opportunity from a Nice Dutch Lady

After years of receiving dubious e-mails from various government figures, relatives of royalty, and lawyers with lofty connections in Nigeria, I've received a legitimate business offer from a very nice woman in the Netherlands.

It seems Maryann Jacob recently discovered a metal box with $15 million in U.S. currency, and wants my help in stealing it from a customer of the security company that she works for.

Normally I wouldn't want to get involved in something like this, but it appears Maryann hasn't been happy in her job, and wants to pursue life as a public figure. Sounds like a legitimate reason to me.

Maryann has asked me to keep this confidential, until we can get our hands on the money. I'm asking you, my blog readers, to keep this under your hats. Once I have succeeded in this "risk-free" endavour and have my 40% share, I'll make an announcement about where the party is going to be. It promises to be quite a blow-out!

If you receive a similar e-mail from Ms. Jacob, please delete it, or report it to the authorities. I'm already providing assistance freeing up the money, so there is no need for you to pursue the matter. Besides, it's quite possible that you might be motivated by greed to help out this disgruntled employee. My motives are much purer.

For similar "offers", see the Crimes of Persuasion site.

Tags: scams, humour, nigeria, 419scams, fraud

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Sifry on Threats to Blogs, Search Engines

Technorati CEO David Sifry spoke at Northern Voice today: spam.corporate extortion using network bandwidth and Google Bowling are threats.

Spam -- As Cory Doctorow says, all healthy ecosystems have parasites. The good news here is that in the end it all goes back to a web page somewhere, so in a sense it's accountable. We still have a very strong signal to noise ratio. Search companies and blog hosting companies are talking to each other to fight blog spam. The companies can shut down blog farms and AdSense abusers who scrape content and set up blogs with stolen copyrighted content.

Bandwidth Extortion -- One of most dangerous threats to the Net: the number of telecom providers is shrinking. We have given the telecoms a local monopoly. Now they're saying they want to introduce preferential service for those who are their direct customers.

The breakage of traditional Net infrastructure is bad for innovation. Smaller companies can't afford to pay the predatory pricing taht the telcos are suggesting (protection money for best bandwidth access). The bandwith providers are going to go behind the scenes and get protection money from big companies that want to have preferential treatment on the Internet.

Google Bowling -- This scares Sifry more than secret blog networks boosting a site's Google Juice. The Google Bowlers discredit those sites that rank ahead of them on the search engines, by targeting their competitors with links that get them booted out of search engines. The net effect is that the Bowler's favoured site moves up in the ranking, without appearing to have done anything unfair to improve their search engine ranking.

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Sifry says that Technorati has been tracking blogs since Nov. 2002, and the numbers have been doubling every five months over the past few years. This can't go on. It can't continue to grow forever, but he thinks things are still growing.

Tags:
northernvoice2006 northernvoice sifry googlebowling